Obama's Race: Shhhhhhh, Don't Mention It

But I will mention it because "Obama can't escape that skin color is a factor". E. Thomas McClanahan of the Kansas City Star says what I say should be said with regards to Geraldine Ferraro's statement that Barack Obama is where he is because of the color of his skin.

Obama was supposed to be the transcendent candidate, the one who would move us all beyond race, but the race thing won’t go away, and how could it? The fact of Obama’s race is integral to his mystique and his political success.

As Mickey Kaus pointed out on his blog, kausfiles.com: “If Obama were white, he wouldn’t embody hopes of a post-racial future. Duh! That’s part of his appeal. It seems obvious. … Why isn’t Ferraro allowed to acknowledge it?”

The importance of Obama’s race becomes even more obvious when you consider that black voters comprise much of the Democratic electorate. Any candidate capable of capturing 80 to 85 percent of the black vote while grabbing a goodly share of the white vote will have the advantage.

That’s why Obama was probably the only candidate with the potential to beat Hillary. He’s doing it by yanking away what she formerly considered her base, and he’s doing it in part because he is black.

I back track to a statement he made in his first paragraph.

Geraldine Ferraro sure stepped on a political land mine the other day. Barack Obama, she said, wouldn’t be where he is today if he hadn’t been black.

It was a textbook-level gaffe, meaning Ferraro said something impolitic — but true.

Really, people need to get off of it. I do not think anyone understands what racism is to begin with. People attack with the concept like a false Samurai with a dulled sword.